When my students are preparing for a performance we talk about how scary it is to be up on stage. But there is a part too performing where you just have to go for it and let the performance be what it is. You have to play with all the heart that you have, the great sound, even though you worry-“what if I hit a wrong note?” I can guarantee that if you play too controlled and too carefully your piece will only sound “okay” even if every note is perfect. It will have no soul, no emotion, no drive behind it. But a piece played with emotion and depth connects with the audience even if the performance is less than flawless. We get to see a piece of the performer laid open and vulnerable on stage, and music is about that honesty and conection.

It’s a scary thing, taking a leap like that, but so very rewarding.

Would you like your life to be different than it is? Change it. Go after a better job, make a radical decision to move or homeschool or go organic, choose to slow down on the weekends or leave your laptop in the other room a few nights a week, then do it. Just like in performance you have to go for it in life. It may not work the way you expected, you may not get that job, but at least you tried. Without the effort I can GUARANTEE that you won’t get the job! At least by trying you gave yourself the possibility of something great happening.

You can make your life what you want it to be. The time you don’t have? It’s there, but it means less time online, a little less sleep, a re-prioritized plan. The money you don’t have? Be creative. Living the life you want doesn’t mean having what everyone else has- it means creating your own. That’s where the reward is.